A day after a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump on all 34 counts in his hush money trial, the Trump campaign team and Republicans smashed fundraising records after donations poured in from an electrified GOP base.
The Trump campaign announced a massive small-dollar donation haul following the verdict, totaling $34.8 million, which campaign officials said is nearly double their prior one-day fundraising record. Nearly a third of the money came from “brand new donors,” the campaign said.
The guilty verdict, announced in court after 5 p.m. Thursday, spurred an immediate flood of donations to Mr. Trump’s main fundraising site, WinRed, causing it to crash temporarily.
“Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats with their election interference political witch hunt have awakened the MAGA movement like never before,” said Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, Trump campaign senior advisers.
The guilty verdict spread the surge in donations to other GOP fundraising entities.
“Republican voters are FIRED UP,” said Jack Pandol, spokesman for the House GOP campaign arm, the National Congressional Campaign Committee.
The NRCC “broke fundraising records” Thursday night, Mr. Pandol said, pulling in $300,000, which shattered the previous one-day record of $125,000 raised after Speaker Mike Johnson took the gavel last October.
Mr. Trump and his campaign sent out fundraising appeals almost instantly after the verdict, soliciting donations of as little as a dollar, although Mr. Trump told those who could not afford to donate to hold onto their money. The former president referred to himself as a “political prisoner” in some of the emails.
“I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial: I DID NOTHING WRONG!” Mr. Trump said in a fundraising email blasted out moments after he left the courthouse.
Mr. Trump also raked in larger donations post-conviction.
He attended a small fundraiser with ultra-wealthy donors Thursday night in New York City.
“These 15 people are top, top, top people. It was the triple A list,” John Catsimatidis, billionaire businessman and radio talk show host who attended the dinner, said on ABC Radio.
Mr. Trump, he said, “wanted to discuss what was happening and he wanted to discuss solutions. He was in high spirits. Everybody in that room believes if there is not a change in Washington, it could be the end of the free world.”
Shortly after the verdict, Sequoia crypto partner Shaun Maguire announced he was donating $300,000 to the Trump campaign. In an extended post on X, Mr. Maguire said he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and stayed home in 2020.
Criticizing Mr. Biden’s foreign and domestic policies, Mr. Maguire said, “Now, in 2024, I believe this is one of the most important elections of my lifetime and I’m supporting Trump.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.